


By Any Other Name

by Masu_Trout



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Emotional Manipulation, Gen, Gender-Neutral Frisk, Mid-Canon, Missing Scene, Pacifist Route, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-02
Updated: 2016-01-02
Packaged: 2018-05-08 12:26:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5497037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Masu_Trout/pseuds/Masu_Trout
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>The monsters down here were little more than cheap dolls to play with: press this button, get that response. They built and broke in the exact same way every time he played with them, and by now there was nothing interesting left for Flowey to try.</i>
</p><p>Papyrus and Flowey have a friendly talk about the best way to support and care for the human.</p>
            </blockquote>





	By Any Other Name

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JackOfNone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackOfNone/gifts).



> Flowey! He freaked me out so badly, and I was really excited to channel that into this fic. Happy Yuletide, Jack of None, and I hope you enjoy the result!

The child had carved a path of peace and love through The Ruins, Snowdin, Waterfall, Hotland, and The Core. They'd tamed the ( _worthless_ ) Royal Guard with little more than parlor tricks and friendly words. They'd torn Flowey down from the height of his power—six souls and infinite universes and _not a chance in the world_ —and let him live afterward.

Had it been to mock him? Or perhaps because they felt some insipid, misguided pity for his pathetic form, with his torn stem oozing amber sap and his petals crushed and scattered across the ground. It didn't matter why; nothing except him truly mattered in this world.

Well, him and the human, that was. The monsters down here were little more than cheap dolls to play with: press this button, get that response. They built and broke in the exact same way every time he played with them, and by now there was nothing interesting left for him to try.

The human, though—with their fresh wiggling soul and the determination oozing from every pore of their tiny little body—was something new. Special. Thanks to them, the game could finally be interesting again.

(Even if he was losing. It was only temporary, it could only ever be temporary. Flowey had never lost, and he never would. Soon, the child would have to realize that.)

Now, finally, the child was making their way to Asgore once more. It would be an easy enough victory for them; they knew all his patterns, when to strike and when to retreat. A battle between those two wouldn't last very long at all this time around.

That was, of course—Flowey smiled to himself—if the battle started at all. Why should he force the poor, innocent human to go through what he had suffered? Surely it would be cruel to make them repeat their actions again and again and again?

He knew how difficult that could be, how it could lead someone to… desperate measures. He'd make sure the human got a taste of something brand new this time around.

But for that to happen, he needed the help of the human's friends. In order to get _that_ , he needed the help of one friend in particular.

“Hiya~!” Flowey burst from the ground, shaking dirt from his petals as he let his stem snake upwards. He hated Waterfall—the ground here was always so disgustingly moist. “How've you been, pal?”

Papyrus turned and the sound of his voice, jaw working into an odd, unsettling grin at the sight of Flowey. He'd always been so disgusted by the appearances of the weirdo brothers—at least Flowey had the good decency not to _look_ like a pile of remains brought back to life by some hideous magic.

“Oh, Mister Flower, hello!” Papyrus waved cheerfully, though not quite as exuberantly as Flowey was used to. “It's a nice day out, isn't it?”

 _Mister Flower..?_ Flowey blinked for a moment, confused, before realizing that he'd never actually offered his name to Papyrus in this timeline. He normally got around to it eventually, when he bothered with the skeleton at all, but he'd been so busy with the human these last few go-arounds that he'd forgot about this particular plaything almost entirely.

“Well,” Flowey said, shaking his leaves bashfully. “I don't know that I've ever seen a _bad_ day in Waterfall.”

_Because we live underground, you idiot! The weather's always the same!_

Papyrus laughed. “I guess that's true.” 

He settled into the muddy bank next to Flowey's patch of soil, either not noticing or not caring about the way the thick black muck stained his bones as he did. “It's been a while since I've seen you! I was starting to worry something might have happened.” He looked out over the water, seeming almost concerned. “Ever since my new friend fell down here, everyone's been awfully agitated.”

“Aw, shucks.” Flowey brushed a leaf against Papyrus's ulna in a friendly—and slightly overly familiar—gesture. Papyrus twitched, startled, but otherwise was far too polite to react to the touch. “Well, you know me. I've got lots of places to be, lots of people to check in on. I'm sorry I haven't been by so often these past few weeks.”

Before the human fell, Flowey'd enjoyed spending long, lazy resets experimenting with Papyrus and Sans. The two were so _varied_ —even the smallest change in approach could make them react in an entirely different way.

Now, though, with his immortality stolen by the human, he couldn't afford even that bit of stress relief. If Papyrus got in a lucky shot—if the brother found out too soon, if he decided to get off his lazy ass and actually _do_ something—

Too many variables. There were entirely too many variables these days, and too few chances to experiment with them. Everything was an unknown, everything was a danger.

Flowey loathed that child so very, very deeply.

 _It'll all be fine,_ he thought. _I just need to be patient a little while longer._

He curled in on himself, petals turned inward and stem bunched together in a grotesque parody of timidness. “Papyrus, if you don't mind me asking… is this new friend of yours the human everyone's been talking about?”

Papyrus's bones clattered as he startled. “Ah—well...”

“You don't have to lie to me, friend.” He let his eyes grow bigger and his smile crack around the edges; it was the perfect look to convey wounded innocence.

“I'm not..!” Papyrus blurted out, then stopped. “I'm sorry. I wasn't planning to lie to you, I promise. It's just that I don't want to put them in any more danger than I have to.” They looked over at Flowey. “My other friend, Undyne, you remember her?”

Flowey nodded. He remembered Undyne well—she always took an awfully long time to die, though he'd found he could speed up the process a bit if he ripped Alphys apart or smashed Papyrus to dust in front of her.

“Well, she was really mad at my human friend for a while—she even wanted to kill them! I mean,” Papyrus added hurriedly, “It all worked out. We're great friends now! But I didn't really manage to help anything; the human did it all on their own.” He sighed. “My friendship manuals tell me that it's all about supporting each other, but so far I don't think I've supported the human that much at all.”

Almost like magic, Flowey could see a script to this conversation unfold in his head. He'd never had this talk before (he even had to listen to _every single word_ Papyrus said—such a hassle!) but old skills weren't so easily lost. Flowey knew Papyrus, more intimately than the skeleton even knew himself, and he knew exactly what to say.

If he wanted to build Papyrus up, all he had to do was offer a little comfort. He could remind the monster of how he'd brought Undyne and the human together and the way he'd challenged her to extend a hand of friendship. A few gentle words, a soft, friendly embrace, and the skeleton would be twined around his roots even more tightly than before.

On their other hand, he could crush Papyrus just as easily. _Wow, friend, that's really sad. I guess maybe you're not too good at friendship yet? No, don't be upset, it's nothing to be ashamed of! Everyone needs practice before they can be good at something. I guess you just… need a bit more than most, that's all._ Separate him from his friends, make him second-guess every word and action; sooner or later he'd end up little more than a lifeless husk for Flowey to re-animate any way he saw fit.

This time, though, he wanted to push Papyrus in a different direction entirely. “Wow, Papyrus, I'm so glad I came to you! It sounds like you know exactly how I'm feeling.”

“Wow! Really?”

Flowey nodded emphatically. “Absolutely! You see, I met the human myself not too long ago. I was nervous around them, but they were so very nice that I couldn't stay scared for long.”

_They broke me and broke me and broke me and then they didn't even have the guts to END ME._

Papyrus laughed fondly. “That sounds like them, all right! Once you've met them properly, you can't keep wanting to kill them for long.”

_Oh, friend. Just you wait and see._

“But that's the problem,” Flowey said urgently. “When I saw them, they were already in New Home. When I asked them where they were headed, they said they were off to fight King Asgore! What's going to happen to the human if they try to fight our king?”

His father would end up kneeling, broken and defeated and offering the human a home as if he didn't already _have a child_ —

But Papyrus didn't need to know that, of course. Better he let the skeleton imagine his own end to the battle.

Papyrus titled his head to the side, the closest equivalent to a frown his bony visage could manage. “I'm sure it won't come to that. After all, King Asgore's as warm-hearted as they come, and the human's a friendly sort too. They'll find a way to talk it out!”

What a stupid, overly-optimistic idiot. Flowey curled his petals in further, forcing down the sneer that was desperately trying to make its way across his face. “But… he's a king, you know? He has his people to think about. Even if he wanted to stop fighting, he can't just admit defeat like you or I would.”

The skeleton thought for a moment before brightening suddenly. “Oh, but that's no problem! The people of the Underground don't want the human dead anymore, I'm sure of it. By now, everyone's had a chance to see how gentle humans can be.”

“True,” Flowey admitted. “But does the king know that? He doesn't come out of his throne room all that often these days, and especially not when a human is roaming around. Do you think he even realizes just how we feel about that kid?”

“Oh.” Papyrus stared out over the river blankly, then suddenly leaped to his feet. “Oh no!”

_Bingo. Thanks for finally getting with the program._

“How will the king know how we feel if none of us have told him? What if he… what if he and the human...” Papyrus gulped audibly. “This is terrible!”

“I thought about trying to tell him myself, but why would a great boss monster like him ever listen to a little ol' flower like me? It seemed impossible. That's why I came to you for help.”

“Hmm.” Papyrus paced up and down the muck of the riverbank, crushing weeds beneath his feet as he walked. “Well, maybe—but no, that would wouldn't work. Or maybe..? Nah. But how about—!”

If there was any chance of him managing it without Papyrus noticing, Flowey would have been beating his head against the ground already. _Come. On._

Finally, Papyrus stopped. His cape fluttered out behind him as he turned back towards Flowey. “Wait, I've got it! Maybe one of us wouldn't be able to convince the king. But what if _all of us_ came and petitioned him? I'm sure he'd have to listen to Undyne and Alphys and Mettaton!”

“Wow, Papyrus, you're really something else!” That, at least, was an entirely true statement. “That sounds like a wonderful idea! Only...” He looked down at his stem. “We really don't have much time left, and I'm not sure how fast I can get around.”

“No worries!” He struck a pose. “The Great Papyrus is here to save the day! I'll make sure to get everyone I know to go talk to Asgore right away.”

“Thank you so much, Papyrus.” As a flower, he couldn't really properly cry—always a bit of a downside when he was trying to gather sympathy—but he shook his petals as best he could to simulate sniffling. “I'll see if I can stall for time, okay? Go as fast as you can!”

Papyrus nodded once more, and with a flash he was running down the riverbank. At Flowey's best estimate, it would be another thirty seconds before he remembered he had a phone and could simply call Undyne and Sans.

Flowey waited until Papyrus was out of sight before letting his true expression unfurl once more. The grin on his face grew so wide that it nearly split him in two. This was all going even more perfectly than he could have ever hoped for. 

Forget resets. Forget that seventh soul. He was going to win this game with a strategy all his own.

He laughed joyfully as he sank back into the soil. Soon, the human child would be wishing they'd stayed in the world Flowey had created for them. They'd come to regret their defiance.

_Soon._


End file.
